Throughout colonial and antebellum history, U.S. slaves lived primarily in
the South. Slaves comprised less than a tenth of the total Southern population
in 1680 but grew to a third by 1790. At that date, 293,000 slaves lived in
Virginia alone, making up 42 percent of all slaves in the U.S. at the time.
South Carolina, North Carolina, and Maryland each had over 100,000 slaves. After
the American Revolution, the Southern slave population exploded, reaching about
1.1 million in 1810 and over 3.9 million in 1860.

Population of the South 1790-1860

Year

White

Free
Nonwhite

Slave

1790

1,240,454

32,523

654,121

1800

1,691,892

61,575

851,532

1810

2,118,144

97,284

1,103,700

1820

2,867,454

130,487

1,509,904

1830

3,614,600

175,074

1,983,860

1840

4,601,873

207,214

2,481,390

1850

6,184,477

235,821

3,200,364

1860

8,036,700

253,082

3,950,511

(Source: Historical Statistics of the U.S. (1970).)

Slaves as a Percent of the Total Population selected years, by Southern
state

1750

1790

1810

1860

State

Black/total

Slave/total

Slave/total

Slave/total

population

population

population

population

Alabama

45.12

Arkansas

25.52

Delaware

5.21

15.04

5.75

1.60

Florida

43.97

Georgia

19.23

35.45

41.68

43.72

Kentucky

16.87

19.82

19.51

Louisiana

46.85

Maryland

30.80

32.23

29.30

12.69

Mississippi

55.18

Missouri

9.72

North Carolina

27.13

25.51

30.39

33.35

South Carolina

60.94

43.00

47.30

57.18

Tennessee

17.02

24.84

Texas

30.22

Virginia

43.91

39.14

40.27

30.75

Overall

37.97

33.95

33.25

32.27

(Sources: Historical Statistics of the United States (1970),
Franklin (1988).)

Holdings of Southern Slaveowners by states, 1860

State

Total

Held 1

Held 2

Held 3

Held 4

Held 5

Held 1-5

Held 100-

Held 500+

slaveholders

slave

slaves

Slaves

slaves

slaves

slaves

499 slaves

slaves

AL

33,730

5,607

3,663

2,805

2,329

1,986

16,390

344

-

AR

11,481

2,339

1,503

1,070

894

730

6,536

65

1

DE

587

237

114

74

51

34

510

-

-

FL

5,152

863

568

437

365

285

2,518

47

-

GA

41,084

6,713

4,335

3,482

2,984

2,543

20,057

211

8

KY

38,645

9,306

5,430

4,009

3,281

2,694

24,720

7

-

LA

22,033

4,092

2,573

2,034

1,536

1,310

11,545

543

4

MD

13,783

4,119

1,952

1,279

1,023

815

9,188

16

-

MS

30,943

4,856

3,201

2,503

2,129

1,809

14,498

315

1

MO

24,320

6,893

3,754

2,773

2,243

1,686

17,349

4

-

NC

34,658

6,440

4,017

3,068

2,546

2,245

18,316

133

-

SC

26,701

3,763

2,533

1,990

1,731

1,541

11,558

441

8

TN

36,844

7,820

4,738

3,609

3,012

2,536

21,715

47

-

TX

21,878

4,593

2,874

2,093

1,782

1,439

12,781

54

-

VA

52,128

11,085

5,989

4,474

3,807

3,233

28,588

114

-

TOTAL

393,967

78,726

47,244

35,700

29,713

24,886

216,269

2,341

22

(Source: Historical Statistics of the United States
(1970).)

Slavery was the basis of sectional differences in the U.S. which
resulted in the Civil War and renewed commitment to realize the promise
of protection of inalienable rights for all persons in the country.

Gray = Confederate States of AmericaBlue, Pink,
&Red
= Union States or United States of AmericaPink = Border States (slave states), that stayed in the Union.Red = In 1863, West Virginia separated from
Virginia.Light Green = USA;
areas and territories that were not states in 1861.